US Army chief meets Afghan president amid reports of troops withdrawal

The US Army chief paid an unannounced visit to the Afghan capital and held a meeting with President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, according to a government statement on Friday. "General Mark A. Milley at the head of the ranking delegation visited Kabul and met President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani in Presidential Palace on Thursday evening," the Presidential Palace said in the statement. It said that matters pertaining to mutual interests, including the US strategy on Afghanistan and South Asia, the peace process under the leadership of Afghans and the Afghan government plans for achieving self-sufficiency were discussed.

The US top military official's visit to Afghanistan took place in the wake of President Donald Trump's announcement to drawdown troops by half, taking back about 7,000 out of some 14,000 of his forces from Afghanistan. The Taliban outfit has repeatedly rejected to hold talks on peace with the Afghan government in the presence of foreign troops in Afghanistan.

(With inputs from agencies.)